What do you do at Olympic level?
Is there something you’re THAT good at? Chances are, if you’re over 16, there is.
Contrary to popular belief, life experience isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we shape with our daily choices. In other words: you aren’t that passive, buddy. Whatever it is you practise with dedication, day after day, without giving up, will eventually bring you a “gold medal”. This is a matter of fact, not my opinion. Chances are there is more than one activity you put a lot of time and effort into without realising. Especially so if you’re insecure and think you have nothing to offer, because 99% of the times people say that, they’re living repetitive lives. So… What is it you repeat? You’re probably good at it!
Of course, when I say Olympic level, it’s a bit of a metaphor. The Olympic competition we all know and love can only include so many sports, or else it becomes difficult to manage; But life, itself, has infinite possibilities!
So, I’m going to repeat the question: what is it you practise day after day, tirelessly, ever since you remember, because you find it important?
Survival instincts don’t count! “Oh, I sleep every day”; “I get my daily nutrients”, etc — we know. Everybody does, or else we die. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about things you repeatedly practise without a primal need. What comes to your mind?
Usually, when people draw a blank at this question, it’s because of shame. They think their answer to the question wouldn’t be “good enough” or “respectable enough”… But it probably is! Just because you won’t get a literal gold medal at a world podium for it, that doesn’t mean there’s no merit in the activity you’re practising daily. Even if you can’t see the merit at face value, chances are there’s an important skill behind it, which you can tap into for life. And, look: I’m open-minded. If you’re new to my blog, rest assured. I don’t teach the consensus. I like exploring possibilities. I won’t judge your skill.
For example: some people spend a humongous amount of time surfing the Internet. Consensually, there’s usually a prejudice against that. But you’re not talking to the prejudiced here. You’re talking to Lucy, the oracle. If I weren’t open-minded, I wouldn’t, ya know, openly admit I’m an oracle. You’re safe here.
Okay, I digress, let’s get back on topic: some people are Olympic athletes at surfing the Internet. You can giggle if you want, but I’m not making fun of them. I’m just saying it. They’re surfing the Internet at Olympic level. Maybe they don’t think much of it because they’re so used to it, but the moment you bring granny into the room… Yeah. There’s a lot granny doesn’t know about online navigation. This reminds me of an old skit, I think pretty much everybody’s seen it here in Ireland (NO, I won’t joke for the zillionth time about how small is this country. Rest assured), but maybe if you’re an outsider (or a blow-in, lol) it will be new to you:
Even if you’ve seen it already, go on, give it another watch.
So, in terms of online navigation, sure there’s technical stuff that gets a bit dated with the passing of time. Who knows, maybe in the future we will no longer need compu- Oh wait. No unsolicited oracles huh?
I’m kidding.
As I was saying, the technical lingo changes and evolves with time, some tools become obsolete and other ones rise in popularity… But there are deeper levels to that skill, it’s not just the surface level we should look at. For example, people who “scroll a lot” are usually wicked gifted at avoiding scams and not taking everything they see at face value (like in the skit above). That’s a useful “street smarts” kind of life skill! I mean, sure, scams happen face-to-face as well, but it’s usually a lot harder to con people on the spot, compared to, say, in writing. Writing gives you a hell of a longer time to plan and carefully craft your traps.
But… what if I never see progress?
There’s a caveat: if your ego is too inflated (and the Internet is full of narcissists too, they don’t just exist in the bone-and-flesh world), this is one of the cases where you WON’T be “an Olympic athlete” at anything, regardless of having life experience, because narcissists pursue delusions and run away from living life (check out my viral article that explains it). They’re afraid of learning because learning = realising you once made a mistake, and oh no, they don’t wanna look at anything less-than-perfect about the things they do and say. So if you’re genuinely not getting good at the activities you repeatedly practise, check your ego. Chances are, in that case, you’re preventing yourself from achieving a progressively higher and higher level at your favourite activity because you’re too afraid of being perceived as less-than-flawless-from-the-get-go.
(Side-eye to one of my ex-friends who thought she was always right in her conclusions about people’s mental health, but in fact she was a total beginner in her career as a psychologist. A much different attitude compared to actually seasoned professionals).
Yes, I am saying egotistic people are more susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect. And I’d say it again. Don’t get me wrong, we all fall for it, but when your ego is under control you can easily go like “oopsie, I assumed too much. Not to worry! I’ll correct myself now”.
Paradoxically, maybe narcissistic people (and non-narcissistic people who have a similarly inflated ego) are in fact practising something at Olympic level: deceit. It goes as far as deceiving themselves, and the kind of lie they tell tends to resist the basic fact-checks most people (or, “mere peasants” at deceit. People like you and I, who don’t practise deceit at Olympic level) benefit from. It really is impressive! Gold medal worthy for sure.
As you might have noticed, not all things we practise at Olympic level are healthy or good for us. There’s no shame in realising you’re good at something unhealthy — acknowledgement is the first step into recovery, so well done for that! Now you can just as well change your mind and go practise something healthier. In a few years time, you could be at Olympic level doing this healthier thing!
What if my athletic talent comes from reacting to life?
Maybe this question is on the back of some people’s minds. They had to endure very difficult circumstances, a lot of resistance to their survival, etc. This can cause shame, not because it’s shameful to overcome hardship (on the contrary! It’s inspiring and good, I’m sure the whole world agrees), but because lack of privilege naturally makes you feel ashamed of where you came from.
I’m saying that with first-hand experience. But in order to tell you why, I’ll need to tell you about my own Olympic level activity: divination.
So, I’m an oracle. You already know that. I’m learning a very specific oracle tradition, which will take me many years, but at a basic level of existence in this world, I’m an oracle. At a soul level, I’m an oracle. Nobody can take it away from me, my fear of that is literally zero. That’s why I keep presenting myself that way.
I don’t need to be the only oracle. Even if I eventually get “the gold medal” now and then, I’m aware others exist, and I’m aware a healthy level of competition leads to mutual improvement (that’s the Olympic spirit!). In other words, I’m not driven by the ego. I do what I do because in the beginning I needed it, but now I simply enjoy doing it.
There was a period in my life, though, when I didn’t like admitting it. In fact I went on “a strike” for more than a decade and declared myself an atheist. But is there any shame in working with the unseen forces to prevent the future and give other kinds of advice too? Well, no. Not today. Like a person who recently coached me said, “it’s not like they’re burning people at the stake anymore” — to which I’d like to finally react now and sarcastically reply “oh, you don’t say, Sherlock? I’d never have realised that. One clap for you.” (Sorry, there’s a petty side to me who just can’t stand these people who take my money and only make minimum effort to help… It’s like they’re insulting my time and money and don’t even care. If you don’t know how to help me, admit that. Unless your ego is too big and won’t let you. Ugh. Someday I’ll outgrow the bitterness).
Anyway. Back on track: there’s no shame in what I do. If I were ashamed of the activity itself for one reason or another, it would be fairly simple to overcome that shame. All I’d need to do is think of other oracles and fortune tellers out there. Could it be that all these people are doing something inherently shameful? Well, no. It’s a legit activity. Like any activity, it can be corrupted or practised unethically, but it can also be practised ethically just as well. There’s nothing inherently bad about it.
My shame, however, was not about the activity itself. It had to do with why I got good at it. The story behind it. My origins.
You see, my past is very grim. I grew up among very deceitful people. Some narcissistic, some not, but all very good at telling lies to themselves and others. All very good at ignoring truth and embracing delusion. And by “truth”, I don’t mean anything religious or absolute. I’m simply talking about what happens in actuality. For example, let’s think of a person who is hated by a lot of people. Could it be that it’s “because they’re all jealous of her and can’t help hating”? Well, no, it’s usually more likely that she’s just not very kind and not very pleasant to be around — but the delusion is something easier to believe. And on and on she went, placing one delusion on top of another, like a house of cards. “The majority of people who know me dislike me, they must be jealous > therefore they must be hiding the bad things they do against me and others > therefore I must protect myself > etc etc etc”. A lot of “becauses” and “therefores” connecting one assumption to the other, but no fact-checking on each assumption to see how many other possibilities there are (have you seen me rant about that yet? Click here).
And the thing about oracles is… They deal with unseen energies. Not just “woo woo magical stuff” (although there probably is some of that — I prefer to call it “things Science just hasn’t studied enough”, not things that are inherently beyond Science, but I digress), but also mundane kinds of energy, such as emotional input. It can get very very subtle! Nature picks up on these subtleties (and we’re animals too. We have the same ability). These energies are the kind of input that escapes deception and distortion. That’s how you somehow know your neighbour Susan is lying when nothing visually or audibly gives it away. We all have the basic skill…
…Some of us just practise it at Olympic level.
So, no, you can’t simply tell your athlete friend with a background of hardship they don’t need to be ashamed because “they’re an inspiration to so many people”. It’s true, but it’s not compassionate.
Chances are they know they ended up inspiring people as a byproduct of doing what they do. But that has nothing to do with the shame. If anything, it’s counterproductive, because it can create feelings of guilt and more shame: like “yeah, I know, I’m inspiring people, so I’d let them down if I didn’t. Who cares about MY emotional needs though, they probably don’t matter”. That’s why I said it’s not compassionate. It’s quite selfish. Similar to fans who think they’re entitled to their favourite celebrity’s work.
Hardship, especially in early life, creates shame because it makes you feel like you were not worthy of receiving the good things you were deprived of when you were at your most vulnerable — in childhood. That couldn’t be further from the truth! It’s just a limiting belief! But it’s a valid limiting belief, and nobody should feel as though they’re stupid for having that belief. It’s limiting because it’s counterproductive and it puts you in a negative state, but it’s common and makes perfect sense. It allowed your survival. It was once helpful. Now it’s safe to leave it behind, because now the past is over, and your reality is another.
But yeah, I won’t lie, it IS annoying to be reminded of the depressing stuff I went through early on in life every time someone brings up why I took a liking for oracle and started practising it so much. It’s not fun. Hence, there’s shame.
There probably will always be some level of shame around that. And that’s okay. We’re all a little broken. Life wouldn’t be interesting if it was perfect, isn’t it?
